Wednesday, January 31, 2007

AUSTIN, Texas - Best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins, the sharp-witted liberal who skewered the political establishment and referred to President Bush as “Shrub,” died Wednesday after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 62.

I have been a regular reader of Molly Ivins’ columns. Her spunk and willingness to stand unafraid and rustle the shrub named Bush will be missed. I, too, am proud to be a liberal. Thank you, Molly, for putting our thoughts into words.

Stand Up Against the SurgeThe purpose of this old-fashioned newspaper crusade to stop the war is not to make George W. Bush look like the dumbest president ever. People have done dumber things. What were they thinking when they bought into the Bay of Pigs fiasco? How dumb was the Egypt-Suez war? How massively stupid was the entire war in Vietnam? Even at that, the challenge with this misbegotten adventure is that WE simply cannot let it continue.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

TAMPA, Fla. - Raymond Rodriguez was changing a tire when an 18-inch chunk of ice plummeted from the sky with a piercing whistle, then a metallic crunch. The ice chunk crushed the roof of a nearby Ford Mustang on Sunday morning. No one was hurt."I was scared," Rodriguez said, who was only feet away. "It's crazy, man."

No word on whether the owner's insurance covers for damage from climate changes.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole.Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile.To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.

Tacit approval is being given to neocon bloggers, by talk radio and people like Jessica McBride, to pry into the private affairs of individuals like the fellow who made the intemperate remarks to the soldier. He and the company he worked for are now being "investigated" by some, including Peter DiGaudio (author of Texas Hold ‘em Blogger) and by a blog named, Euphoric Reality. This blog lists not only the name of the person who made the comment, but the names, ages, jobs held, etc. of other people associated with the company. There is much more information posted, so it is best to just jump over to the site using the link provided. They’re frightening in their disregard for others … scary in the delusion they are performing the job of the MSM … they are nothing more than vigilantes.

What is frightening is these people have no qualms about abusing technology to “out” their fellow citizens. None! These people who are being attacked have a right not only to privacy but to a presumption of innocence before guilt, whether citizens or legal aliens. They are being electronically raped before our eyes. One is being raped for engaging in a freedom of speech exercise (reprehensible though it was) and the others for being associated with him.

These bloggers, children really in their regard, remind me of this quote from George Orwell’s epic, 1984:

"Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party. On the contrary, they adored the Party and everything connected with it... All their ferocity was turned outwards, against the enemies of the State, against foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals. It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children."

Be very frightened citizens. Be frightened of these self-proclaimed patriots. They are the real traitors to the American idea.

Oh, Jessica McBride provides another reason why she should not be teaching journalism. Regarding the issue examined above, she had this to say:

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

One butthead says something absolutely stupid and the entire wing-nut brigade goes into mass hyper-ventilation. One dummy says that bloggers and talk (hate) radio are irresponsible for challenging this person, and the hot air gets hotter.

Let’s get one thing clear: what this employee said was unfortunate and wrong. Our troops deserve support. This soldier did not deserve to hear this. However, the employee also had a right to say what he said, regardless of how unprofessional and immature it was.

Right wing bloggers and talk (hate) radio have a right, too, to mouth off in response. However, contrary to what Jeff Wagner or Paddy Mac might think, it is not the left that needs to GROW UP. The right needs to rein in the rhetoric and stop making mountains out of molehills. Charlie Sykes tried to say today that liberals were using the victim card. After eight years of victim card usage by Sykes and his fellow card players on the right, all I could do was laugh (and turn the channel).

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Billiam has asked me why I hate George W. Bush. I countered that I, personally, do not hate the man, but that his policies leave a lot to be desired. But I can understand if there is hate out there in the wide wide world. Any hate that does exist is fueled not only by Bush’ actions, but by hate radio and hate personalities like Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Melanie Morgan, etc.

Leaving that aside, there is another aspect of the man that I wonder why Billiam and other conservatives have refused to ponder … his seeming disregard for others. I don’t believe for a second that he ever considers the toll that is being taken on the thousands of innocents in Iraq. Certainly he, personally, is not responsible and certainly many lives have been lost due to the often indiscriminate attacks by Iraqis themselves and foreign fighters who have come to Iraq to bleed the “Great Satan.” But, Bush’ policies must take on some of the blame for the deaths of these thousands. This I believe he refuses to do, despite the charming photos showing him with a tear on his cheek. Where are his tears for humanity?

Well, below is a piece from the National Review regarding a profile of Bush that was done by Tucker Carlson back before the first Bush election. The callousness of Bush is openly on display, so much that even Carlson is appalled.

In the week before [Karla Faye Tucker's] execution, Bush says, Bianca Jagger and a number of other protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Tucker. "Did you meet with any of them?" I ask.

Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them," he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with [Tucker], though. He asked her real difficult questions, like 'What would you say to Governor Bush?' "

This charming little vignette comes from Tucker Carlson's profile of George W. Bush in the premiere issue of Talk. Carlson's attitude toward Bush is clearly positive. But the profile is nonetheless devastating, because Carlson is a good reporter who's captured his subject's unattractive aspects as well as his appealing ones. Carlson's major theme is that Bush is "comfortable with himself" and "doesn't give a damn what you think of him." (Message: I don't care.) He has risen above the obsession with what other people think that marks most politicians. Yet the Bush who emerges from the profile is remarkably thin-skinned. Carlson notes that while "the Larry King–Karla Faye Tucker exchange Bush recounted never took place" on television, "Tucker did imply that Bush was succumbing to election-year pressure from pro-death penalty voters. Apparently Bush never forgot it. He has a long memory for slights." If this is what Bush considers payback, remind us to stay on his compassionate side.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Our favorite bimbo, Jessica McBride, is at it again. This time she’s defending hip hop. Is it because she truly believes that liberals are the reason for its demise in Madison, or is she, a women in her late 30s, a fan of Justin and the boys and their contemporaries?

It would make sense, chronological age notwithstanding, that McBride would be a fan considering her adolescent screeds. Time to grow up, Jessie.

I see from the Green Bay Press Gazette that Hmong leaders are imploring the community to start a dialogue on race relations in the wake of the Cha Vang case.Did white leaders implore the Hmong community to start a dialogue on race relations in the wake of the Chai Vang case?Oh, that's right. The Hmong community implored the white community to start a dialogue on race relations in the wake of the Chai Vang case.

Huh? Note to Jessica, if you are going to label something you write a thought, make sure it is thoughtful.

Without a majority in Congress, the Bush administration has suddenly decided that allowing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court to oversee the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program, which it was created to do in the first place, is a good thing. That the administration still believes it did nothing wrong is illustrated by its continued assertion (from the NY Times) …

… on Wednesday that the N.S.A. program had operated legally, but it also said the time had come to allow the intelligence surveillance court, known as the FISA court, to review all warrants on all wiretaps in terrorism investigations.

“There’s obviously an advantage to having all three branches involved,” said a senior Justice Department official, who briefed reporters on the decision on condition of anonymity. “This issue of the terrorist surveillance program is one that has been under intense public debate and scrutiny on the Hill, and just considering all these circumstances, the president determined that this is the appropriate course.”

Friday, January 12, 2007

Doesn’t it strike you as inappropriate that Republican lawmakers and conservative talk show hosts who stridently backed the President and the course he’d staked out in Iraq, and condemned as traitors anyone who questioned his policies, now are questioning his policies, but only after an election in which the public overwhelmingly spoke against the course of action chosen by this President.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

This is so wrong and F. James Sensenbrenner is partially to blame. Rather than come up with a legitimate plan to deal with the problem of illegal immigration, Sensenbrenner and his racist cohorts instead fueled the fires of bigotry for votes and now it’s getting out of control. A Texas pizzeria decides to accept pesos because 60% of its clientele is Mexican and suddenly they're hit with death threats.

The problem is national. Just the other day, here in Wisconsin, one local blogger referred to Mexicans as “chattering Chihuahuas” and said he told them off at a local Wal-Mart because they were not speaking English. This same blogger says he is not anti-immigration, but is anti-illegal immigration. Yet, he insulted a group of people without determining whether they were here legally or not (not that insulting anyone is okay).

Fortunately, not all conservatives react this way. James Wigderson, author of the blog Wigderson Library and Pub, rightly sees this as a problem and has no qualms exposing this behavior.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Twice before the Bush administration has tried to quell sectarian violence in Iraq by sending in more troops. Both times these efforts failed miserably and the only result was an increase in the cost in human life to both innocent Iraqis and to our brave, but misused troops.

Now, Bush wants to embed American troops with Iraqi units. This didn't work for the German troops in WWII who were mixed in with their hapless Romanian, Hungarian and Bulgarian brethren. It sure as hell won't work now.

Bush is acting like a desperate man who sees his place in history going down in flames.

I like good jokes. The problem is once the joke as been told to me, I promptly forget it (other than two ... for another time). Anyway, it dawns on me that this blog is a perfect place to store these jokes. So, without further adieu ... here is the first from my friend Linda, who nows lives all the way down south in Atlanta ... no, Alabama (that's an inside joke).

The Godfather

A Mafia Godfather finds out that his bookkeeper has cheated him out of ten million bucks.

His bookkeeper is deaf., which is the reason he was hired in the frst place. The Godfather assumed that a deaf bookkeeper would not hear anything that he might have to testify about in court.

So anyway, when the Godfather goes to confront the bookkeeper about his missing ten million bucks, he brings along his attorney who happens to know sign language.

The Godfather tells the lawyer, "Ask him where the ten million bucks he embezzled from me is."

The attorney, using sign language, asks the bookkeeper where the money is.

A blogger named Spocko has been shut down by his Internet provider ostensibly because ABC Radio complained. The reason why ABC Radio complained is because Spocko …

“… began spotlighting inflammatory rhetoric common to several talk radio hosts on KSFO, an ABC Radio-owned station in San Francisco. Spocko compiled a litany of examples on both his weblog, Spocko's Brain, and in numerous letters to corporations advertising on KSFO. He noted that KSFO hosts had claimed to have put "a bull's-eye" on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), advocated hanging various New York Times editors, called for the murder of millions of Muslims, and so on. This letter-writing campaign apparently got results, as major advertisers such as MasterCard, Bank of America, and Visa reportedly pulled their ads from the station.”

Listen to the YouTube piece below, which has been posted in support of Spocko and his right to call conservative blowhards on their evil machinations.

The reason that Spocko was shut down is because for these big corporations it is truly all about the advertising dollar. Wonder why the JournalSentinel has taken a decided turn to the right? Come on, don’t be so clueless. It’s because profits were dwindling and they decided to jump on the conservative bandwagon. Too bad it’s broken a spoke.

These blowhards and their cousins here in Wisconsin, Charlie Sykes, Mark Belling, Patrick McIlheran, Jessica McBride, etc., don't, fortunately, speak for all those with conservative beliefs. There are quite a few who are decent people. But, there are too many that go along for the ride and get caught up in the rhetoric. One recently referred to a group of Mexicans speaking their own language at a local Wal-Mart as "chattering chihuahuas." He has claimed he is only anti-illegal immigrant. How did he know these people were not here legally?

Life is going too fast, it’s going out of control!. I don’t know what is wrong. It’s as though inside my head is going millions of miles a minute while on the outside I am standing stock-still. I can’t seem to get into a groove. I barely accomplish any of the things that are whiling through my mind. My arms and legs are like lead. My back is tired of trying to hold up my neck and busy head. When did this happen?

I think I just grew old!

Oh how I long for the days when my body was under my control. I was the Queen. I would command and my body would follow. The Queen would say, “It’s time to dance!” And off my body would go – “time step – shuffle off to Buffalo – do the riff step – and now break into the soft shoe, turn to the left four times – turn to the right four times, one more time step, cross-over, one-two-three and bow! “Now do it again” she would bellow!”

Where did I get the idea that my body would be immune to this ‘aging disease.’ Why I thought it was going to continue forever. What a cruel joke to have a mind that is still young, full of so many ideas. And then to have a body that is practically frozen in place.

When I allow myself to meditate for awhile, I can harness the energy in my mind and watch the pictures fly past my inner eye. I see my childhood, my grandparents - parents. I am going to school - kindergarten, grade school, high school, graduation. Right after graduation I came close to dying. I had planned on going to college to become an art teacher. However, I put it off for a year with the intention of making some money to help pay for my schooling – the truth was: I was scared of life. So in no time at all, while looking for the ‘easier, softer way,’ I managed to get married. We moved seven times in the first eight years and during this time, I had five children. I was full of energy and loved to daydream. I would dance with my children and chase them around the house.

After twenty three years of marriage, we divorced. My children were grown mostly. They were dancing on their own. I started another period of my life – I felt renewed. I had hope again; and in my fertile mind – a picture of a bright, though unknown future. I supported myself as a counselor, and I had married again. I didn’t get to dance as much as I would like – I sat a lot. However, in ten years or so, I was on stage having the time of my life – feeling inspired and fulfilling much of the creativity that would rush into my mind. I was in love and I was in love with life. It was going to last forever! But then cancer came to visit – however it was only a bump in the road. In two and one half weeks after surgery, I was back on stage, in costume and make-up – nothing to worry about. I was alive! Chemotherapy, radiation therapy – I couldn’t’ stop – I had a life to live – I had to make money. “I will heal, I will be all right.”

Then came retirement and dreams of traveling, doing community theatre – acting, directing, choreographing, painting, writing.

Three years of illness brought all these dreams to a grinding halt. It’s interesting how the illnesses lasted just long enough to use up nearly all of the energy I had left for wanting to live. I just ran out of juice. AND so here I am – sitting with my buzzing head – wanting so much to be a vital part of life and my body is slowing down.

Today I had a glimpse of my future. An 88 year old friend is in the hospital with compression fractures in her spine. In the past, I have said to her: “When I grow up I want to be just like you.” However, right now she is suffering with terrible pain. This is the same pain my mother had just before she died. So, reality says to me, “Marge, this is the dance of life.” It’s as though there is a veil that prevents us from seeing and hearing this most of the time. Apparently, we are meant to live in the NOW – in the moment. But now and then I do get a glimpse - a reminder that life here in this body is temporary; a reminder to take care of myself to the best of my ability and to surrender to the Will of God. There is no point in fighting. As my mother would say, “Marjorie, it’s rather like being at the head of a long, long line of humanity. We are all marching along. I am coming closer and closer to the edge of the cliff and those behind me aren’t stopping and they don’t care…. soon I will be the next to go.” And so she did and so it goes.

Just for today this is my story. Tomorrow this story may change. Tomorrow I may focus on another part of my life – my quest, my searching – along with the question, “What indeed am I searching for?” I have to smile as I realize that all we have are our stories – they often don’t have much to do with the “reality” – they just fit the view we hold of our lives and mostly to justify some behavior. History is rewritten again and again to help explain the past from our own point of view. When I have an opportunity to read or hear about the same period of recent history written from another point of view, I wonder, “Where was I?” It’s then I realize again, we all have a story and that’s all it is. There may be some facts that are truth, but the interpretation around these facts is just a story – a story often carefully honed by us until it’s just right and puts us in the light we would like to be seen, often a sympathetic light but sometimes not – depending on our mood.

Wisdom tells me, as I read histories, biographies, traditions from various countries, listen to preachers, teachers, counselors and doctors and politicians, read the results of investigations, newspapers, watch TV – its best I remember to say, “Maybe so and maybe not.” AND wisdom also reminds me that when most of us finish doing our thing – it’s best we add “That’s my story and I am sticking to it.”

Bank robberies increased in Wisconsin in 2006. Using wingnut logic, the rise in robberies must have been the fault of Republican policies because they did hold power in the legislature. Governor Doyle could not have done anything about it, his ability to do so hamstrung by intransigence on the parts of conservatives.

Sunday, January 7, 2007

There is a great article by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory about the utter lack of credibility possessed by the right-wing blogosphere. He writes:

Packs of right-wing bloggers spent the last several weeks trying to destroy the credibility of Associated Press's war reporting by claiming that one of its sources, an Iraqi policeman named Jamil Hussein, does not exist, that AP simply invented him. As it turns out -- and as AP itself had the great pleasure of reporting (and then rubbing in the face of its irresponsible, taunting accusers) -- the Iraqi Government, which previously denied it, now acknowledges that Jamil Hussein does exist and he is a police officer in Iraq, just as AP reported accurately.

Oops.

There is more to the story. It’s best just to link over there and follow up yourself. However, the main point I want to cover is that what Greenwald says is true nationally is also true here in our own little corner of the blogosphere. Not only do right-wing blogs insanely leap to erroneous conclusions on a regular basis, they are also, as Greenwald says:

… wrong over and over and over -- and not just in error, but embarrassingly so, because so frequently their claims are transparently, laughably absurd, and they spew the most righteous accusations without any sort of evidence at all. The New Republic has its Stephen Glass and The New York Times has its Jayson Blair. But those are one-off incidents. The right-wing blogosphere is driven by Jayson Blairs. They are exposed as frauds and gossip-mongerers on an almost weekly basis. The only thing that can compete with the consistency of their errors is the viciousness of their accusations and their pompous self-regard as "citizen journalists." (bf mine)

These right-wing bloggers love to piously masquerade around as "media watchdogs," keeping a watchful eye on the "MSM" and compelling them to adhere to facts. And ever since their involvement in the use by Dan Rather of fraudulent documents, and then heightened by Charles Johnson's oh-so-monumental observation that a Reuters photograph of Lebanon had been photoshopped to give the appearance of more smoke during an Israeli air strike on Beirut, the media has largely recited this storyline.But they are nothing of the sort. Nobody is less interested in media accuracy than they are. Correcting media mistakes is so plainly not their agenda. They are nothing more than hyper-partisan hysterics who jump on any innuendo or rumor or whispered suspicion as long as it promotes their rigid ideological views and political loyalties and hatreds.

Here in SE Wisconsin we have our own righties whose claim they are here to do the job of the MSM is so hilarious. Just recently, during the last election, they were fed a load of crap regarding some documents that mysteriously appeared supposedly indicting the Democrats for plotting dastardly deeds and, like sheep, they nodded their heads and repeated the story until … oh, oh, everyone discovered it was not true. Suddenly, sites like Texas Hold ‘em Blogger and most notoriously, Boots and Sabers, were sent scrambling to cover their butts.

Instead of accepting any blame, they blamed the source of their woes. For someone claiming to do the job of the MSM, there surely was a lack of confirmation that the blarney was true. Pomposity levels (and testosterone levels) dropped a little that day.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. The beauty of blogging is it’s free and one is free to spew stupid things like the trash tossed about by Michele Malkin, InstaPundit and our own Jessica McBride.

Just don’t claim you was had when you’re had and expect sympathy … no one will accept your pleas of innocence.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Jessica McBride implies in this post at her blogsite that there are those (hmmm … liberal leaning maybe) who feel sorry for the execution of Saddam Hussein. She uses as an example of how people should not feel sorry for the spectacle of his execution a link to a site which shows gruesome photos of the execution of Benito Mussolini, former WWII Italian dictator who met his fate after being captured by partisans near the end of that war (I'll let you link to her site to link to the photos).

McBride clearly displays her bloodlust and lack of character. There is no one I know that feels sorry for what happened to Hussein. What is of concern is the undignified way the execution was carried out. One can paint it anyway they want, but though Iraqis may have been operating the gallows mechanism the execution was still carried out with the approval of the U.S. military. The affair is troubling and augers nothing but continued bad news from that sad corner of the world.

But she doesn’t get it. This woman is a pathetic excuse for a human being. She was wildly supportive of the despicable website that her husband, Paul Bucher, used to smear Kathleen Falk (the site has been dismantled). She continues to spout lie upon lie about our involvement in Iraq, though the evidence every day makes her look foolish. She makes a mockery of the profession she professes to teach by spewing crap of bias about it while exercising no restraint herself.

Her husband was soundly defeated even in his home county, even though she wrote a column in its major newspaper, has her own blogsite and her own show on WTMJ … none of this could help stave off defeat. That he was defeated speaks volumes about how voters viewed his and her character.

But, give her credit. She does continue to play the role of “Eva” exquisitely.

After quite a few hours of sometimes painful, and ultimately fruitless labor, it was decided to go ahead with a caeserean section. I was allowed to enter the operating room and provide support to Kelly with the proviso I wear this sterile suit. Rumors that the suit was actually for comic relief of the surgeons are false.

The Bush administration just doesn't give up. If you see any reference to an Enabling Act in the future, run very far away.

WASHINGTON - A statement attached to postal legislation by President Bush last month may have opened the way for the government to open mail without a warrant.

The White House denies any change in policy, but civil libertarians are alarmed, saying the government has never publicly claimed that power before.

Federal law has long required a search warrant to open first class mail unless postal inspectors suspect it contains something dangerous, like a bomb or a hazardous chemical, reports NBC News' Pete Williams.

The Bush administration says that the law has always allowed these types of search. But, if that is the case, what is the point of the signing statement? I’m waiting for our electronic versions of the Volkischer Beobachter (Fox News and/or talk radio) to parrot their agreement with the Bushies.

Nope. I'm not going to use the word chickenhawk to describe those 18-22 year old young Republicans who talk on and on about needing to continue fighting the war in Iraq, but give no serious thought to joining up. Nope. Using the word chickenhawk is demeaning and just not very nice.